Turning Waste into Opportunities to Create Better Jobs in South Asia

When Kristin Kagetsu co-founded Saathi in India, she wasn’t just building a product - she was building a movement. Her company transforms banana fiber into biodegradable sanitary pads, tackling plastic pollution, period poverty, and rural unemployment in one elegant, circular solution. Saathi pads decompose in six months, employ women in manufacturing, and support banana farmers with new income streams.

Reducing Food Loss and Waste: A Jobs and Resilience Imperative

In South Asia, nearly 40 percent of the workforce is employed in agriculture. Yet over 30 percent of food produced is lost or wasted. This not only undermines food security and farmer incomes but also contributes to climate vulnerability.

Reducing Food Loss and Waste (FLW) is a strategic entry point to create jobs, improve nutrition, and build resilience. This is one of the key themes driving the SAPLING - South Asian Policy Leadership for Improved Nutrition and Growth. The regional platform convened by the World Bank with support from the Gates Foundation and other partners has emerged as a regional catalyst, spotlighting how innovation, integration, and inclusion can transform food systems.

Youth-Led Innovation: Transforming Food Systems from the Ground Up

Young entrepreneurs across South Asia are pioneering solutions that reduce FLW while creating dignified, green jobs:

Sophiya Tamang of Nepal’s Mandala AgriFresh developed “magic bags” that extend the shelf life of produce, helping smallholder farmers reduce post-harvest losses and access urban markets.

Narayan Lal Gurjar from EF Polymer in India created a biodegradable polymer from fruit peels that helps farmers retain soil moisture and boost yield.

Som Narayan of Carbonlites in India, a climate tech company is on a mission to reduce carbon emissions by replacing fossil fuel consumption. This closed-loop solution - a way to measure, manage, reduce, and report carbon emissions, drives meaningful climate action, converting organic waste into clean energy and biofertilizer, helping cities reduce landfill dependency while supporting local farmers with sustainable inputs. His innovation bridges urban waste management with rural agricultural resilience, creating a circular economy model that is both climate-smart and community-driven.

These innovations are not just technical - they are deeply human. They respond to the lived realities of farmers, especially youth and women, who are often excluded from formal agribusiness value chains.

As Sophiya noted, “Even if we had cold storage, we didn’t have cold-storage-worthy produce.” Her company now bundles low-cost technologies tailored to farmers’ needs, proving that empathy and efficiency can go hand in hand.

Integration: Aligning Systems for Scalable Impact

Governments are beginning to align food, water, and energy policies to support circular economy models and scale grassroots innovations. In Sri Lanka, the government is investing in digital logistics platforms that connect small holder farmers to urban markets while creating green jobs in waste management and agri-processing. India’s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is connecting farmer producer organizations (FPOs) to e-commerce platforms, expanding their market reach and reducing post-harvest losses.

Indonesia’s national roadmap to cut FLW by 50 percent by 2030 offers a replicable model for South Asia. It demonstrates how regulatory reforms, digital infrastructure, and financing mechanisms can work in tandem to support innovation and inclusion.

Inclusion: Spotlight on Changemakers Empowering Rural Communities

Inclusion is not a side note; it is central to resilience. Across South Asia, women and youth are leading the charge in transforming food systems.

The SAPLING convening featured an innovation fair where youth-led enterprises demonstrated inclusive solutions. Akshansh Kataria from Ecosense demonstrated how their innovation transforms crop residue into clean-burning pellets for cookstoves, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional fuels. This inclusive solution not only reduces indoor air pollution but also empowers rural women and farmers by improving health outcomes and creating economic opportunities.

This story, among other similar initiatives, underscores that inclusion is all about unlocking the full potential of food systems.   

As Archana Vyas of the Gates Foundation emphasized, “Empowering smallholders, especially women and youth, is not just about equity, it’s essential for resilience.”

Countries need to move from dialogue to delivery by supporting youth-led enterprises, investing in women farmers, and supporting evidence-based policy making that reflect the realities of those most affected by food insecurity and climate change.

A Way Forward: Integration. Innovation. Inclusion.

To truly turn waste into opportunity, South Asia must embrace a systems approach:

• Innovate by investing in youth-led, tech-enabled solutions that reduce FLW and create jobs.
• Integrate food, water, and energy policies to support circular economy models.
• Include women and marginalized communities in every step of the value chain.

The SAPLING dialogue has shown that the region is ready to act. Now is the time to scale what works, fund what’s promising, and support efforts that connect innovators with investors, policymakers, and communities.

Let’s go beyond waste. Let’s go beyond words. Let’s build a greener, more resilient South Asia together.